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arithonfi's review against another edition
5.0
That was an amazingly fun book. Thoroughly enjoyed it :o)
oscarlavista's review
4.0
A really fun, all action adventure that feels like a take on good ol' globetrotting pulpy Adventure stories. I liked the focus on characters from countries that rarely appear in these types of stories and the team dynamic was fun even if most of the action focused on West.
There was some outdated language that was uncomfortable to read but may be attributed to the time of writing or the time the novel is set. These moments are not frequent but worth noting.
I avoided reading Rielly for a long time as I thought there would be a far greater military focus where the reader could get lost if they weren't intimately aware of the particular calibre of a specific bullet or the top speed of a tank manufactured in June 2012 in 32 degree Celcius weather with a NW headwind. I am happy to report that this is not the case. There is definitely heavy reliance on military factions as the antagonists but if you're "war-dumb" like me, you can get by just fine with just a basic understanding of "pull trigger, gun shoot"; any reference to specific weapons is just a little flair for those in the know.
There was some outdated language that was uncomfortable to read but may be attributed to the time of writing or the time the novel is set. These moments are not frequent but worth noting.
I avoided reading Rielly for a long time as I thought there would be a far greater military focus where the reader could get lost if they weren't intimately aware of the particular calibre of a specific bullet or the top speed of a tank manufactured in June 2012 in 32 degree Celcius weather with a NW headwind. I am happy to report that this is not the case. There is definitely heavy reliance on military factions as the antagonists but if you're "war-dumb" like me, you can get by just fine with just a basic understanding of "pull trigger, gun shoot"; any reference to specific weapons is just a little flair for those in the know.
mleung12's review
CANNOT BELIEVE I AM HAVING TO DNF FOR GEOLOGIC INACCURACY. and also bad writing and plot doesn’t compel me much. BUT THE GEOLOGY
monstahslayah's review against another edition
Sean Mangan narration is terrible. It's a Matthew Reilly novel, the guy has an italics key so he can describe the action but Sean Mangan makes it sound like he's describing different stages of paint drying.
eyeoweyooone's review against another edition
2.0
Too many pictures.
But also its a pretty dated novel and not entirely bad, just not my type of thing. I found the hits to themes of conflicting international political power interesting, though I found that was more highighted in the author interview in the back of the book.
But also its a pretty dated novel and not entirely bad, just not my type of thing. I found the hits to themes of conflicting international political power interesting, though I found that was more highighted in the author interview in the back of the book.
karenthebaron's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Good fun and action
glitterkitter's review against another edition
4.0
A reread so that I could read the next two with the story fresh in my mind.
Seven Ancient Wonders is essentially a massive action thriller. There's not a lot else happening in the book other than action right from the beginning. It could seem repetitive but Matthew Reilly manages to pull it off rather effectively.
There's a lot of things I love about this book, though because there's not a lot of depth to it I didn't give it higher than 3 stars (but it'd be a 3 1/2 if that was an option).
Things I love: all the lovely conspiracy theories tied into ancient Egypt and modern religions.
The main hero is Australian!
Making America the bad guys, without being offensive about it. It's just a realistic portrayal of what the global situation is, and can seem to people outside the US.
Another reread (Jan 2019): Matthew Reilly is great at writing action. I upped the star rating this time because I am that impressed with the action and how well it's paced even if action novels are not really my thing.
I am still frustrated with a lot of the lack of character depth, and to the politics of the book. Israel vs UAE and I'm not sure I'd entirely stand by my last comment in the previous review, but I was thinking this time, how rare it is to have a military hero without them being American and explicitly having the Americans being the bad guys. (but like, completely not tying in the military industrial side of the US????)
I don't know, there are so many points I wish had been delved into more, so I feel a bit unsatisfied looking back at it. But I guess I'm expecting more than I should from a writer who is so focused on the action, that the rest of it is just there to make the action happen and that's their niche and I knew that going in.
Seven Ancient Wonders is essentially a massive action thriller. There's not a lot else happening in the book other than action right from the beginning. It could seem repetitive but Matthew Reilly manages to pull it off rather effectively.
There's a lot of things I love about this book, though because there's not a lot of depth to it I didn't give it higher than 3 stars (but it'd be a 3 1/2 if that was an option).
Things I love: all the lovely conspiracy theories tied into ancient Egypt and modern religions.
The main hero is Australian!
Making America the bad guys, without being offensive about it. It's just a realistic portrayal of what the global situation is, and can seem to people outside the US.
Another reread (Jan 2019): Matthew Reilly is great at writing action. I upped the star rating this time because I am that impressed with the action and how well it's paced even if action novels are not really my thing.
I am still frustrated with a lot of the lack of character depth, and to the politics of the book. Israel vs UAE and I'm not sure I'd entirely stand by my last comment in the previous review, but I was thinking this time, how rare it is to have a military hero without them being American and explicitly having the Americans being the bad guys. (but like, completely not tying in the military industrial side of the US????)
I don't know, there are so many points I wish had been delved into more, so I feel a bit unsatisfied looking back at it. But I guess I'm expecting more than I should from a writer who is so focused on the action, that the rest of it is just there to make the action happen and that's their niche and I knew that going in.
thejestess's review against another edition
3.0
Reads very much like a lovechild of Indiana Jones and the DaVinci code, with some... interesting choices in the narrative voice punctuation. A decent enough fluff book as long as you can successfully suspend basically all of your disbelief, and can be read as a standalone
Three of the "family" characters die - Noddy, Doris, and Big Ears - and there are a LOT of side charcters or villains who die. This is not a book with a low body count